


The spark

by Ivy Belle (IvyH)



Series: Lavender and Charcoal [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, But not actually a high school au, Darcy is a mutant, F/F, High School, badass Darcy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-15 10:02:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11803749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvyH/pseuds/Ivy%20Belle
Summary: A bald man with kind eyes sat behind a beautiful ornate mahogany desk.“It was you? You were in my head, weren’t you?” Darcy’s fingers slid over the knot of tension at the back of her head. He beamed, if she were somewhere else seeing that kind of interest would have scared her off. For some reason though, everything in this building was intriguing, like nothing else had ever been in her life. Damn, I’m just dreaming aren’t I?“You are quite right; it was me in your head. You very much aren’t dreaming Darcy, we’re all quite real.”*****Darcy always prided herself on rolling with the punches, but this time she might just have to fight back.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Italics are thoughts and anything that is in bold and italics is people speaking telepathically.  
> This is set just after x-men apocalypse.

“Thanks Pete, you didn’t have to do this.”

“Well what else am I supposed to do when the annoying, little brat that used to live next door turned up on my doorstep looking like a drowned rat.” Peter smirked, leaning against the porch as Darcy secured the straps of her bag. She rolled her eyes.

“Jerk.”

“Hey! I was being nice.” Peter laughed and zipped out of her reach, his hands up in front of him. “Mom loves you, she’d be over the moon if you wanted to stay instead. Hey, maybe you could go with her to the clerk’s office.”

Darcy grimaced, she’d been to the clerk’s office before and couldn’t align Magda’s sharp wit and vibrant nature with such a two dimensional office. A job was a job, she supposed. With two kids and the tension around her immigration status Magda almost certainly took to the job with open arms. From what she could remember, Darcy’s own mother had been the same when they had first moved in next to the Maximoff’s.

It had been Magda’s sharp wit, shared experiences (and possibly the offer of babysitting) that had dragged her mother out of her shell. If it hadn’t been for the Maximoff’s, her childhood would’ve been a very different, isolated place. It didn’t take long for them to become a family of sorts, a little strange; with two mothers, two daughters and a lightning bug for a son. But it was hers none the less. She adored her, truly she did, but the thought of having to live camouflaged and cut off from finishing school sent crickets crawling under her skin.

At Darcy’s unimpressed glare Peter took a step towards her and dropped his hands. “Fine, you ready to go then? The Professor said he’d be ready whenever we get there.”

“Sure, let’s go before I regret it.” She replied adjusting the Barbie sparkly sunglasses resting on her nose, completely contrasting with her all black and leather outfit. “You did this on purpose didn’t you?” She accused, flicking the offensive glasses in question. If it wasn’t for Peter’s knack for pissing Darcy off, her plain black frames would’ve still been intact.

A smirk had barely touched Peter’s lips before Darcy growled and stalked up to him.

“I’m truly very sorry Dee but they were the only sunglasses I could find in the house and I know how you feel about stolen goods.” He responded, the smirk pulling at his lips again.

“Fine. But you’re replacing mine. Black frames. No glitter in sight. Don’t think you’ll be getting away with this Maximoff.”

“Next time Lewis, I’ll bring you replacements then. I have to say though you look rather dashing in pink.” Darcy rolled her eyes behind the lenses and stepped in close to Peter, grabbing a hand of the silver speckled leather.

“Better not keep The Professor waiting then.” She swallowed, screwing her eyes shut as Peter’s hand wrapped around the back of her neck.

“I’m always quick.” Peter replied proudly and before Darcy could laugh they were off.

* * *

“You can open your eyes now DeeDee.”

She ignored the childish moniker and pulled her eyes open – garish glasses still somehow in place. It took will power and a lot of practise for her not to cry out at the onslaught of information searing her eyes.

The site of an ivy covered castle punched the breath out of her lungs. Sprawling velvet green lawns folded out around her, a thick wooded area surrounded the back of the property. She could see the small patches of mottled sunlight interweaving with the moss and the lichen that decorated the foliage around them.

They must be far from the city.

_Cut grass. Pollen. Rain. Mud. Fresh water. Lilies. Ivy. Brick. Must. Concrete. Bark. Leaves. Drying leaves._ And people. So many people, countless dozen scents mingled together and shoved its way down Darcy’s nostrils. It was too much. She breathed through her mouth to dampen the confusing assault on her nose.

Bad idea.

A coughing fit overcame her and she swallowed repeatedly to get the taste out of her mouth. There was a static hiss popping in her ears and she could vaguely feel Peter zipping around her.

She felt a foreign pressing sensation and turned to Peter accusingly, thinking that he was the source. She shook her head to remove the sensation and looked up to Peter for direction. The feeling of lost was something she was starting to become more and more acquainted with. She didn’t like it.

He smiled encouragingly and motioned towards the looming oak doors. She tentatively walked towards them, aware of the countless stares that were magnetised to her back. She straightened her shoulders and lifted her head up; slipping into the fake confidence she wore all too often. “Gotta make a good impression,” she snarked to herself, not caring if Peter heard her or not.

The sound of heavy footsteps coming towards her made her pause. _Tall, heavy, disinfectant, steel, acid, cold. Fur? Blue? What the fuck?_ Darcy looked behind incredulously to Peter as if he could explain what Darcy was sensing.

“What? What’s with the funny face?” Peter asked confused, his hand coming up to ruffle her hair. She yanked his hand away and looked to the end of the empty corridor as if that answered everything. Her hand wrapped around his wrist tightly as the person behind the steps came around the corner. A tall man with dark brown hair, and bright blue eyes behind wire rim glasses, all wrapped up in a lab coated package. _Huh?_ So not quite what she expected. _No. He definitely smelled of cat. Where the hell did blue come from Darcy, are you broken already? You’ve been here all of ten minutes._

“What’s up Hank? This limpet’s called Darcy, by the way.” Peter spoke, shaking his wrist – which Darcy was still very much attached to – fervently breaking Darcy out of her spiralling thoughts.

“It’s nice to meet you Darcy, I’m Dr Hank McCoy. Are you looking to stay here?” He asked kindly, Darcy’s eyes snapped towards his face, her fingers still digging into Peter’s arm.

“Blue.” The word slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. Refraining from snapping her hand over her mouth, Darcy glared at Peter who was swallowing down his own laughter. “Sorry, yeah. I mean I’m hoping so-” _It’s not like I have anywhere else to go_ “- I haven’t seen the Professor yet.” She ducked her head, looking anywhere apart from Dr McCoy.

“Well I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to meet a prospective student.” The warmth of his voice eased some of the tightness that had seized her muscles. She released Peter’s arm from the death grip she had it in, her black chipped nails leaving red crescent marks.

“I’ll go check and see if he’s free.” Peter left before either of them could answer. Leaving Darcy amidst the unknown. Smiling at her, Dr McCoy motioned his hands towards the sprawling dark wood staircase. _Old._

“Seeing as Peter ran off, I’ll show you where The Professor’s office is.” He slowly approached the stairs, his eyes flicking over his shoulder to catch hers. _Is he trying to coax me like an injured animal or something?_

Darcy shrugged and followed easily behind him. She had bigger things to worry about, like what the hell she was even doing here. She followed close behind; her black doc’s emitting high pitched squeaks that grated on her ear drums.

“So what subjects are you interested in?” Dr McCoy asked, his hands flailing of their own accord. Darcy would’ve been happy to walk in silence. “When I was in High school mine were algebra, chemistry, biology, basically anything that included maths or science…mind you I was about ten at the time.” He trailed off as they reached the top of the grand staircase. She let a small smile slip onto her face; his excitement and passion were so genuine it was endearing to Darcy. Peter had reappeared at the end of Dr McCoy’s mini ramble.

“Is he boring you?”

Darcy scowled at him, although it was somewhat softened by the pink glitter it was framed by. She turned her eyes back Dr McCoy and her face softened. “I’m not all that interested in maths or science if I’m being honest.” She conceded, a tiny flash of disappointment flickered across his face and Darcy quickly added. “But I love History, English and Politics.” She was surprised at the calming feeling that spread when she saw a real smile grace the doctor’s face.

“I think you’ll get on well with The Professor then.”

“Yeah, you’ll get on even better if you quit dawdling DeeDee. The Professor said to get there pronto.” Peter flicked Darcy’s hair in her face again and she barely contained her hiss.

“ ** _I assure you I did not._** ” An English voice spoke… without anyone saying anything at all. _What the hell?_ The foreign pressure from earlier returned full force – it wasn’t painful but it wasn’t pleasant either. Maybe she was just delirious.

“Who said that?”

“Said what DD?” Peter zapped to the end of the corridor. She frowned and looked at Dr McCoy whose mouth opened before shutting abruptly. _It came from that way._ She thought, following the pressure from the back of her head. _Is it coming from that door?_ She walked quickly to it, stopping just shy of touching it. _There was someone in there._ _Oil. Metal. Books. Must. Sunlight. Rubber._

The pressure was at its strongest, almost like a beacon to her. She took a breath and wrapped her knuckles on the door.

_**“Come in.”**_ It was the same voice from earlier, curious. Darcy’s hand closed around the doorknob, quickly twisting and letting her into what turned out to be more like a library than an office.

A bald man with kind eyes sat behind a beautiful ornate mahogany desk.

“It was you? You were in my head, weren’t you?” Darcy’s fingers slid over the knot of tension at the back of her head. He beamed, if she were somewhere else seeing that kind of interest would have scared her off. For some reason though, everything in this building was intriguing, like nothing else had ever been in her life. _Damn, I’m just dreaming aren’t I?_

“You are quite right; it was me in your head. You very much aren’t dreaming Darcy, we’re all quite real.”

* * *

“And these are the lawns, which I’m sure you’ve already figured out.”

After a brief conversation in his office, Professor ‘please, call me Charles’ Xavier had shown her around the grounds. Pointing out classrooms and the basic necessities and explaining the basic curriculum a Senior like herself would be doing. Despite the fact that Darcy normally latched on to anything to do with education and picked it apart until she had no questions left, her lips were sealed shut as she tried to take in each miniscule bit of information around her. In all honesty it was starting to fry the nerves in her head and she could feel the beginning of a migraine coming on. She couldn’t seem to stop her mind from racing away from her. Her senses firing, processing and filing information at speeds it had never gone before, it was all so surreal.

_How is this my life now?_ Her hands clenched at her sides, nails biting her palms and trying to pull her back from her the edge. _You know why. You got yourself into a stupid argument and outed yourself. Of course they were never going to accept you once they realised they actually had a reason to hate you._ She shut her eyes to halt the images that were trying to bombard her.

Stacy Lawson’s baby pink nails and venomous words. The accusations that fell from her mouth stabbed her just as much as the soldering iron that had speared Darcy’s hand when she tried to halt her fall. If she’d just let herself fall, the soldering iron would have missed her completely and she could still be at home. _Home_ , in the warm arms of her Grandmother.

She shook her head. It was her reality now, the soldering iron didn’t fall to the floor, it went straight through her hand and she didn’t so much as blink. There was no hiding who she was now. The rest of that eventful day flickered in her head like an incomplete story board.

Stacy’s manic glee, her teacher’s revulsion, students’ disgust and terror blending with the pounding of her heart and feet. The sound of her classmates breath slapping into her like flesh on water. The taste of disgust and the primal hunger for her blood. Her blood. The blood that didn’t drip down her palm when she yanked the soldering iron from it.

The only thing she would miss from Louisiana would be her Grandmother. How she had managed to stay so kind and warm with every loss and hardship she had faced astounded Darcy. She mourned the fact that she would be adding to that. _She doesn’t even know where I am._ Darcy rubbed harshly at the old locket around her neck.

“She’ll be alright Darcy. You’re safe here that’s what matters most, I’m certain your Grandmother would agree with me.” Charles soothed, breaking through her thoughts like an ice pick. She turned away as her breath caught in her throat; a slow burning started at the back of her eyes and pin pricks seared her throat.

The alien sensation started probing at the back of her head, different from before though, and she bit her lips to stop herself from crying out. “Please get out of my head, please stop.” She practically whimpered and Darcy hated that she sounded so weak. The pressure lifted immediately and Darcy swiped her eyes before looking back to Charles.

“I’m so sorry my dear, I didn’t think I was. I promise I won’t actively go into your head and look at your thoughts without your permission.” She nodded in gratitude and slumped into a seated position on the wall they had come to a stop in front of. “Sometimes people project their own thoughts, even if they have no powers. I’ve come to find that for certain people it’s a natural response, usually a consequence of strong emotions. If you would like, I could help you learn how to control it?” She saw the truth radiating from his eyes and nodded her agreement. _I’d prefer my thoughts stayed my own. But who was rooting around my head then?_

“Ok so if it wasn’t you in my head then who was?” She questioned, searching his face for any miniscule indication of a lie.

Surprise lit up Charles’ face but was quickly replaced with a frown before his brow tightened and he absentmindedly rubbed at his temple. _What’s he-oh he’s talking to someone_. She mused; she got up from her sitting position and walked to the little bridge over the lake.

“That was one of the other student’s. I apologise. I’ve told her to leave your mind alone; she’s… she’s not usually like this.” He followed Darcy towards the bridge and she knelt down, lent slightly over the wall and trailed her fingertips in the cold water, barely warmed by the soft afternoon sunlight. She loved the water. To her it always looked so beautiful and pure compared to everything else that surrounded her. She pulled her hand out of the water and watched with barely concealed childish delight as the light refracted through the droplets. She slipped the blank look back on her face when she felt the weight of eyes on her.

“What do you see?” Charles questioned curiously. “Peter briefly explained your mutation, the hypersensitivity and your healing.” She frowned. “He wanted to make sure your transition to the school was as smooth as possible, he wasn’t doing it maliciously.”

“I know.” She swallowed. “He wouldn’t do that.” Smiling wryly Darcy submerged her hand fully into the water and took a deep contented breath. “I think, I think I can show you.” Charles smiled and rolled to a stop next to her.

“Only if you’re sure Darcy. You’ve had a long few days; don’t feel as if you have to.”

“No I-I want to. I’ve never been able to explain to anyone before what it’s like, Peter is about the closest.” She insisted, a shy note running through her voice. “Just look at my thoughts, my senses, you’ll understand why I wear glasses.” He nodded and placed his hands carefully on her temples, his fingers barely touching the slightly damp skin of her forehead. She took a deep breath, screwed her eyes shut and slipped off her glasses.

“Are you ready?”

_**“Whenever you are.”** _

She pulled her hand out of the silken water and let her sense take control.

Starbursts of rainbows refracted from the water dripping from her fingertips. Tiny rivulets beaded over the ridges in her fingerprints. There were particles of mud clustered around her cracking cuticles, mixing with the chips off of black polish. Minuscule sparkles of sweat glistened along the lines of her palm. There was a slight increase in heat where the blood ran through the capillaries near her skin, oxygenated blood running alongside deoxygenated. The combined feather light trickle of all the streams of liquid running over her skin. Cool breeze dropping the temperature of her palm as the water evaporated. _Calcium. Algae. Wet earth. Nitrates._ The thin mist of lake water filming over her lips. Echoing splashes of water drops concaving into the lake. The melody of the ripples. The blood suffocating her ears.

She shut her eyes and Charles disconnected from her mind. She slid her glasses back into place, breathed through her mouth and squashed the acid rising in her stomach. She licked the water from her lips and stood back up. “Thank you for sharing that with me Darcy that was remarkable, I don’t know if there are even words to describe that.”

“I know.” Darcy grinned but it faltered slightly at the tension building behind her eyes. “Sometimes it’s too much, s’why I wear my glasses, it dulls everything down just a little bit, and I have to pick clothes carefully, some textures make it feel like someone’s pouring acid on my skin.” Darcy sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“There comes a time in most mutant’s lives where they feel as if their power is the one with control. I will not lie to you, sometimes it can end catastrophically.” He caught her eyes and Darcy could not drop his gaze. “Do not let your fear hold you back. It’s my full belief that you are in the best place to learn to the full extent of your powers, not just how to control them. You will always find someone here who wants to help you Darcy.”

“But what-what if I can’t control them?”

“You will. I have faith in you.” He smiled and Darcy swiped at her eyes.

“One of your fellow students felt the same when she first arrived; she was almost paralysed by the fear that she would hurt someone or that she would lose control of her powers and herself. She hasn’t, not once. She has learned to control her powers and she lives in harmony now, knowing the true extent of her own powers. She’s no longer afraid of them.” A natural calm flowed from him in waves, she trusted him. It hadn’t even been an hour yet and she knew she trusted him.

It had been a little over ten years since she had felt like that. Standing on a dishevelled, somewhat overgrown porch staring at the little girl sat staring at her from the porch next door; pointedly ignoring the taller silver haired boy sprawled over the bench behind her. Darcy swore the girl’s eyes had flashed green before she smiled and scrambled down off of the porch and skipped over towards her. “I’m Lorna and that weirdo on the porch is my brother Peter. Do you want to come play with me?” And that was that.

“Please don’t be afraid of your powers, we’re all different here. You don’t have to hide anymore.”

Darcy smiled and her bottom lip trembled. “My mother used to say something similar, I guess it’s nice knowing there’s more people in my corner.” The memory of her mother’s lilting voice soothing her burning ears as she lulled her to sleep _‘If you couldn’t handle your gifts, then you wouldn’t have them in the first place. My strong girl, you always come out on top’._

“I think once you’ve settled in today and rested up, it’d be the perfect time to meet some of those people in your corner.”

* * *

“I’ll leave you to get settled into your room then, dinner will be around seven.” Charles smiled and turned around as she whispered a thank you.

It had been explained to Darcy that she would be sharing a bathroom with her neighbour, another girl around her age; but that they were the only people on the hall. Darcy was grateful that Peter had pre-warned Charles of her powers, if she had been put on a hall with many more people she doubted that she would have actually been able to use her bedroom for its actual purpose. Her hand faltered on the door knob, she took in a deep breath before releasing it on a sigh. “May as well get on with it.” She pushed the door open and held her breath.

It was old. There was a double bed nestled in the left hand corner as soon as she walked in. Sunlight streamed through the room from the big ornate windows, it had warmed the air up slightly compared to that of the temperature in the hall. She could taste the mahogany coating her tongue from all the pieces of furniture in the room, her room at her Grandmother’s used to taste of pine. Mahogany tasted bitter in comparison.

She closed the door, sealing herself into her new home.

The walls were lined with a deep mauve coloured paper, the colour had started to fade where the light hit it, but apart from that there was no sign of ageing, no hint of mould hiding behind the paper. She wondered who’s the room was, it felt untouched and she couldn’t detect any residue that a person would have left behind. If she couldn’t hear and feel the dust swirling around the world she would have presumed no one had been in there for years. She could see a thin layer had settled on top of the desk, despite the fact that she could feel that someone had tried to clear the room of dust.

She hadn’t had her own desk for years, not since she lived with her Mother. Instead she took to spreading all her papers out on the dining room table, everything laid perfectly for her to see. The desk called to her.

She dropped her bag onto the end of her bed and coughed at the scent of fresh linen it kicked up. Her headache was slowly building in her head again and she slowly slid down onto the desk chair. It elicited an ominous creek that scratched away at her ear drums. Coupled with the rough, gritty feel of the underside of the chair pulling at her skin and the ever present dust lining her throat, her stomach rolled and Darcy could feel acid sliding up her throat.

She lurched out of the chair and through the only other door in the room.

Cool air slapped her in the face and Darcy’s eyes streamed at the change in environment. Whilst rapid changes in environments usually made Darcy feel sick, the change from dry warmth, to the slightly damp cool of the bathroom soothed her stomach. She lent over the sink, taking in gasping breaths. One after the other. _Dust. Cold. Warm. Coffee. Mahogany. Must. Linen. Bleach. Disinfectant. Lavender. Where was the lavender?_

The screech of metal on metal echoed in her ears and the pain at the back of her head turned white hot and she crumpled to the ground. Her hot breaths escaped her lips in whimpers, crackling with hisses of her hair swirling around her ears. Her spine straightened in an attempt to relieve the pain fissuring through her body.

_Just breathe, breathe, breathe, in, out, in, out, and, and what-wait what comes next?_

The acid climbed up her throat and sweat mingled with tears rolling down her face. There was breathing, she wasn’t sure whether it was her own or not, but she latched onto it. The repetition doing wonders to slow her heart rate.

It was all going well till the alien sensation from earlier pressed back down on her head, more forceful than earlier, it pushed out all of her sense, creating a white wall were the chaos had been invading her senses. Now that her senses weren’t going haywire she could open her eyes. She was met with the shocking site of a pale face with light, golden freckles right in front of her. She blinked, once, twice and then whipped back so fast that the other person jumped and hit their head on the sink counter. Darcy ducked her head down and looked at the girl through her hair.

She had long gingersnap red hair, with the sight hint of a curl, the complete opposite to the frizzy mess of dark curls hanging from her own head. The freckles that dotted her face scattered all along her neck and Darcy dared imagine covered the rest of her. It reminded her of the daisies that littered the garden of the house in Louisiana. Energy poured off of the girl. Molten gold infused with crystallised amber. The girl felt like cooling ashes to Darcy, even though she knew that her temperature really was only on the higher end of normal.

It usually took years for Darcy to detect someone’s energy.

It scared her more than seeing the mansion for the first time had.

_So that’s where the lavender came from._

The girl was looking at her strangely and she felt the itching pressing sensation she had come to associate with telepaths strengthening at the back of her head. She glared.

“Thought the professor told you to get out of my head already.” Darcy snarled, she pulled her hair back from her face so she could clearly look at the girl. Her sea glass eyes narrowed and a blush coated her cheeks and throat.

“Sorry.”

Darcy looked her up and down, leaning back against the wall. Whilst her headache may be gone, her body still felt like she’d run a marathon. “Guess I’m your new neighbour then.”

“Guess so.” She crossed her arms.

Darcy sighed. “Are you gonna tell me your name? I mean I could probably keep calling you ‘the girl’ in my head but that might confuse other people. I’m Darcy, by the way.”

Her mouth pulled to the side as if she didn’t want to speak. Darcy rolled her eyes. “I live next door, I’m gonna be in your classes, we share a damn bathroom, I think you’re cool to tell me your name.”

“It’s Jean, Jean Grey.” She’s still frowning but at least she answered the question. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she bit down on her lip again.

“Spit it out.” Darcy’s eyes felt heavy and she wanted nothing more than to crawl to her bed and sleep; it had been a long day and her capacity for new experiences was starting to overflow.

“How did you-how did you know I was in your head?” She stared deeply into Darcy’s eyes as if they were another entrance into her head. Jean’s heartbeat picked up and filled Darcy’s ears with a not unpleasant drumming noise.

Darcy shrugged, she didn’t really know why either. “Well, now you know I don’t want you in my head. Do you just do that? Go into people’s head without asking, seems invasive if you ask me.” She clenched her fist.

“No-no of course not, I just-” She spluttered, her eyebrows pulled together in disbelief.

“Look, just don’t do it again.” Darcy stood up and brushed her hands down her pants.

Jean scoffed. “Right.”

“Good. I’m just gonna go.” She pointed behind her with her thumb and turned around.

“Darcy?” Jean’s voice sounded unsure, she turned around again, leaning her weight slightly on the door.

“Yeah.”

“Don’t steal all the hot water.”

“Got it.” At Darcy’s nod Jean turned around and left their bathroom at the same time. _Well isn’t she just a ray of sunshine._ Darcy’s jaw split in an eye watering yawn and she took the three steps to her bed before flopping face first into the fresh sheets.

The last thing she thought about as she drifted into unconsciousness was the calming presence of lavender.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are thoughts.

It was safe to say that Darcy’s meeting with the other students in her year went exceedingly better than her first meeting with Jean.

Scott, Kurt, Ororo and Jubilee quickly got used to the idea that their small band of five was expanding to include her. Jean seemed the most resistant to this change, neglecting her in conversations and pretending she didn’t exist the rest of the time. Never one to back down from a fight, Darcy threw it straight back at her. She relished in the aggravated spluttering and the furious blushes that would adorn her cheeks whenever Darcy managed to get on her nerves.

Over the past few days though, Jean had finally taken to arguing back. A small part of Darcy was beginning to crave their altercations; in a hope to see Jean’s molten energy start to burn a blood like red. It had almost gotten them detention the last time, but Darcy thought that would be a small price to pay to piss her neighbour off.

“Hello, earth to Darcy.” Scott waved his hand in front of her eyes.

“Leave the rebel alone, she’s obviously off in lala land.” Jean scoffed, shoving a chip in her mouth. Ororo rolled her eyes and Jubilee lent back on the bench, obviously ready for the ensuing fight.

“So I’m a rebel now, what makes you say that? Little miss goody two shoes.” She took a long pull of her drink before putting it back on the table.

“What I’m not- well why else would you dress like you’re always ready for a funeral if it’s not to make some kind of statement.” Jean slammed her hands on the table.

Darcy rolled her eyes, _really she’s going with my outfit choices_. “Did it occur to you that I might actually just like the colour black, and you know not feel the need to look like a toddler attacked me with kiddy paint.”

Jean glared back at Darcy and she grinned somewhere between an actual smile and baring her teeth. Jean’s eyes flicked down to her drink and the next second the cool liquid was soaking through her jeans, the feel of wet thread scratched her skin and Darcy had to bite her lip from growling at Jean’s retreating form.

“What crawled up her ass?”

Ororo snorted and took a bite of her sandwich, “You apparently.”

“She just feels threatened.” Scott handed her the small stack of napkins from his tray.

“Why? She’s been like this since I got here.” Darcy dabbed pointlessly at the wet patch on her jeans.

“You just get on her nerves, she’s used to being the teacher’s pet around here. She doesn’t like losing arguments to you, even though she knows you’re better at history and English than she is.” Jubilee laughed. Darcy stood up and grimaced as she could feel the sticky iced tea running down her legs.

“Right. Well I guess I’ll meet you in class.” Darcy picked up her tray and waved goodbye to the table before stomping after Jean.

* * *

She had quickly changed her trousers and made it back downstairs in time for their history lesson with the Professor. History had always been Darcy’s favourite lessons, no matter where she was. The way one person’s decisions affected those of all the people around them and the generations to come had intrigued her. Especially since moving the America, it had helped her to understand the context that was speeding by around more easily.

They were currently covering world war two and it explained a lot as to why her mother never talked about her own childhood.

“For your next project we will be doing pair work again.” Darcy looked over to Ororo and smiled, the last project the pair had done together had got them a B plus. “We’ll be looking be looking at the effect of the war on developing technologies; Scott and Jubilee you will be looking at aviation.”

Darcy slid her books into her bag and mentally planned out how she and Ororo would approach their project this time.

“Kurt and Ororo you will be looking at the influence on the development of computers.” Darcy’s hands froze and her books slammed to the floor. _Oh fuck._ She pulled in a deep breath ready to object but at the look in the professor’s eyes she bit her lip to keep her mouth shut.

“Darcy and Jean, you will be looking at the influence on medical procedures.” The hairs on the back of her neck prickled at the intense glare Jean was giving her, _like it’s my fault._

“That’s the end of the lesson today, you’re all dismissed.” The professor smiled and Darcy scowled but slowly packed her things away again. _Surely he can’t be serious_.

She could feel the frustration pouring off of Jean in waves as it shoved its way down her throat. Jean tapped her foot as she waited for everyone else to leave the classroom. As soon as the door shut on Kurt she sprung from her seat and stalked to the Professor’s desk, bumping elbows with Jean in her haste to get to the desk.

The professor’s eyes crinkled, _this isn’t funny_. Jean glared at her and Darcy gladly returned the searing gaze.

“What can I do for the both of you?” He smiled, his hands shuffling papers around his desk.

“I can’t-”

“Professor-”

They spoke at the same time, their mouths both snapped shut when they realised they’d both spoken. The professor looked at them expectantly and Jean’s elbow knocked into Darcy’s ribs.

“I-I can’t work with her.” She finally mustered, Jean nodded and stepped out of Darcy’s space.

“Of course you can.” Jean’s face contorted in disbelief. “I wasn’t aware I’d made the pairings a choice.” He said before either of them could complain again.

“But-” Darcy pulled her books closer to her chest.

“No buts.” He stopped moving things around his desk and looked at both of them. “You are both very bright students, and whatever this rivalry is you’ll have to get over it sooner or later. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that if you work together you’ll create some marvellous work. So I suggest putting whatever grudges you have to the side and at least attempting to cooperate for the duration of the project. All right?”

Darcy looked at Jean briefly before nodding her head, _it’s only two weeks, I can deal with that_.

“Yes.”

“Sorry Professor.”

“Good, now both of you get out of here and leave me in peace.” He smiled and Darcy let a small smile of her own tick up the corner of her mouth.

As the door shut behind them, she felt the temperature drop slightly but when she looked at Jean she saw a neutral expression on her face. Nowhere near the scowl that usually covered her face when she looked at Darcy.

“We’ll start tonight ok? The sooner this is over with the better.” Jean looked slightly above Darcy’s head, resolutely not making eye contact with her.

“Sure, I’ll meet you in the library in half an hour.”

“Ok.”

Jean nodded and they both started in the direction of their rooms in silence. Jean blushed and diverted towards the kitchen instead.

* * *

When Darcy arrived in the library exactly thirty minutes later she saw that Jean had already spread herself out on a big table underneath the bay windows that overlooked the lake. Her hair looked like it was burning in the late afternoon light; it matched the energy that seemed to surround Jean all the time. Darcy shook her head and walked over to Jean; she placed her bags on the floor and pulled her notepad out.

“Hi.”

Jean nodded, pulling her hair behind her ear. “I’ve started by getting some books out on pre-war life, I thought I’d check and see what types of illnesses were most common at the time and then go from there to look at the treatments.”

Darcy smiled, Jean seemed more at ease talking about this then she ever had in any of their previous conversations, barely conversations. “Sounds good to me, how ‘bout I try and find something about the medical training for field medics, from what I know, over the war this developed as techniques developed.”

Jean blinked as if in surprise before a small smile pulled on her lips. “You know, I half expected you to fight me on this.”

Darcy laughed, she pulled her jacket off and threw it on the back of the chair. “I’m not gonna fail something out of spite, I’ve got a reputation to uphold you know.” Darcy smirked pushing her chest out, Jean’s eyes swiped over her body quickly before looking back into her eyes, she could hear the slight increase in her heart rate.

“Good, neither am I.”

The sun had gone down and it was reaching seven by the time Darcy’s brain had decided to stop working. She slumped in the chair, her head lolling from side to side to try and work out the kinks in her muscles. A headache had started forming just behind her eyes and she slipped her glasses off to try and rub some of the pressure away. Hank had been able to help her find a pair of glasses with lightly blue tinted lenses, enough so that other people could see her eyes behind them. She could hear Jean’s knuckles cracking as she stretched her hands for the third time in the past half an hour.

“Hey, how about a break, and don’t say you don’t need one I can hear your wrist cracking.” Darcy grabbed Jean’s attention and the taller girl nodded, stretching out like a cat, her spine realigning with a somewhat satisfying click.

“I suppose I could take a break.” She smiled slightly and started rubbing at her writing hand.

The silence lasted all of two minutes before Darcy got sick of hearing the buzz of the lights above their head. “So what exactly do you do for fun around here?”

Jean looked surprised but quickly regained her composure. “Um there’s not too much round here if I’m being honest. There’s a mall not too far from here which we go to sometimes. We went to go see the last Star Wars there.” She smiled, her eyes lifting to look Darcy in the eye. It was so much clearer without the tinted filter; Darcy could see the flecks of grey surrounding her pupil. “Have you seen it?”

Darcy snapped her focus back and nodded. “Yeah I went with a few friends back-back in Louisiana.” She choked back the word home, it wasn’t her home anymore.

“What was it like?”

“The film?”

Jean laughed. “No, not the film, Louisiana.”

“Oh. It was warm I can tell you that for sure, I’m not sure I’m gonna miss that. And the teachers, dear lord, I felt like I was going crazy sometimes they just didn’t know what they were doing. Sorry, you don’t want to hear me complain.” Darcy looked back down at her notepad.

“I don’t mind, it’s kind of interesting. I was home schooled before I came here so I’ve never really had a proper high school experience or been to that many places.” She looked back up at Jean through her hair and leaned in closer, still quite aware that they were in a library.

“Oh trust me you aren’t missing much. The cliques, the gossip over who likes who and who’s party people are going to or whether they’ve been invited or who screwed who; it gets boring after a while.”

“Guess you can’t really form cliques when there’s only six people in the year huh.” Jean smiled. “Well some of it’s got to have been entertaining at least. You said you had a few friends.”

Darcy’s eyes dropped. “Yeah, uh we weren’t all that close.” Jean’s head twisted in question and Darcy sighed. “We really were only close enough to go shopping or go to parties together, as soon as they found out I was a mutant they pretty much dropped me and pretended like we were never friends.” Jean sucked in a breath and Darcy could see that the energy and her heart rate had spiked.

“They don’t sound like friends to me.”

“I guess not.”

“So what’s Louisiana like?”

“Humid.” Darcy grinned. “My hair used to just puff up like a cloud in the summer. Don’t get me wrong it’s beautiful there in the summer, and the food, god the food is just amazing. I’m-I’m really gonna miss it. I remember one night my Grandmother made craw-fish and we just sat out on the porch and she told me all about the constellations she knew. That sky, I can’t really describe it.” “

That sounds amazing. Maybe when I’m older I’ll go and visit.” Jean looked at her, there was something in the way she moved that Darcy had never seen before, she looked more content but also aware at the same time.

She was shocked to find that she liked it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter, Darcy and Jean are starting to realise that the other isn't so bad. Please let me know what you think, what you liked, any characters you want to see more of. Thank you for reading and here is a preview of the next chapter :) 
> 
> "She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing down. She quickly latched onto the familiar heartbeat of Jean and opened her eyes. There was a glimpse of copper hair in the corner of her eye and she slunk back behind the tree out of sight.
> 
> She could do this, she could so do this. All she’d have to do was sneak up on a telepath. Ha."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are thoughts. Bold and italics are telepathic conversations.

They spent each night of the next two weeks hauled up in a corner of the library, looking for anything relevant to their project. Over the days their breaks became longer and the tension between the two of them slowly dissipated into mutual appreciation. Darcy slowly came to realise that there was no justification to her dislike of the girl, the amber energy surrounding her was just as enticing when she was passionate as when she was angry.

And Jean, well, not being able to hear someone’s thoughts wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

Even after handing in their project, they found each other more often than not in close proximity. It had only taken three days for them to start sitting next to each other at the lunch table.

“Hey, Darce have you been in the danger room yet?” Scott mentioned as Darcy shoved her sandwich in her mouth. Jean smiled at the grape jelly escaping the corner of it.

“What’s the danger room? Sounds kind of creepy, if I’m being honest.” Darcy rolled her eyes and bumped her shoulder with Jean’s.

“It’s so cool, you’re really missing out.” Jubilee bounced slightly in her seat and her hair flew about in the air, whipping Kurt in the face making him splutter.

Jean turned her shoulders towards Darcy who still had the grape jelly in the corner of her mouth and a confused little crinkle between her brows. “It’s a room where we go to train, to use our powers or just to learn to fight. The room itself is pretty amazing, it can change to look like different landscapes and throw out different obstacles.”

“That sounds amazing why haven’t I heard about it before?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe the professor wanted you to settle in a bit more before he told you about it.” Ororo threw her apple into the air a few times before biting into it. Darcy’s mouth turned down a little before she plastered a smile back in place.

Jean frowned and contacted the professor in her mind. _**“Would it be alright if I showed Darcy the danger room sometime this week?”**_

_**“Ah, Jean. That was something I had been debating myself for a few weeks now. If she would like, she could join in the session tonight.”** _

Jean, looked at the subtle curiosity in Darcy’s eyes and smiled. _**“I’ll ask her and let you know.”**_

“Hey, I just asked the professor and he said that if you wanted to, you could join in the training session tonight.” Darcy beamed and threw her arm around Jean’s waist, hugging her briefly.

“Yes. Please, I mean, if you don’t mind of course.” Darcy released Jean and she blushed slightly.

“Of course we don’t mind, right guys.”

“Nah, of course not, I’ve been wanting to see if you’re fighting talk is actually true.”

“Oh it’s so on Summers, you’re going down.” Scott smirked and threw his chips at Darcy’s head. She caught the packet but the chips went flying all over hers and Jean’s heads anyway.

Jean groaned at all the little bits of chips crumbling all over her. She side eyed Darcy and they both sprung into throwing their trash at Scott’s head. Their table dissolved into a full on food fight.

* * *

“Welcome to the Danger room Darcy.” The Professor smiled as the door behind him opened, revealing the cavernous room behind him.

Darcy’s mouth dropped open as she took it all in, the room looked like a massive grey cave and she was still wrapping her head around the fact that such a massive room was underneath the school when the rest of her year strolled in. They were all wearing personalised but matching leather outfits, Darcy crossed her arms over her threadbare top, sweatpants and beat up sneakers she had picked out for the training session.

“If you feel like after today that this is something you want to carry on with, we can talk to Hank about fitting you with a suit.” Darcy beamed and bounced on the balls of her feet, her restless energy spilling over.

The professor motioned for them all to enter the room and Darcy gravitated towards Jean and Jubilee.

“Today we will be playing a game of capture the flag. Jubilee, Kurt and Darcy on the blue team and Scott, Ororo and Jean on the red team.” The professor explained whilst handing out the flags. Darcy huddled up close to Jubilee and Kurt, she playfully glared at Jean, and stuck her tongue out when Jean rolled her eyes. “You have five minutes before the simulation will start.”

The two teams broke apart to the different ends of the room. Jubilee pulled both of them in close, turning their backs to the others. “They may think we’re at a disadvantage because we have you on our team-”

“Thanks Jubilee-”

“You know what I meant, you’re new and have no training compared to us-”

“Still not making me feel any better.” Jubilee rolled her eyes.

“Just shut up for a second, you’re gonna be our secret weapon. They’re going to think Kurt here will go a grab the flag because he’s most suited to it but he’s not, you are.”

“Come again. I don’t have any offensive powers like you two, if they catch me I can’t fight them off.” Darcy laughed, looking from Jubilee’s smirk to Kurt’s massive grin and back to Jubilee again.

“You’ve got supersenses, so how about you use them and don’t get caught. They aren’t going to expect one of us to sneak up on them because they’ve got the heavy hitters.”

“If I act as a distraction they’ll be too concerned about where I’m going and whether I’m going that you should be able to slip by.” Kurt added.

“Aren’t you forgetting that they have a telepath on their team.” Darcy interjected.

“That’s where you come in again, Jean will probably fall back into a defensive position as she’ll try and read our minds to figure out our play. Kurt and I will keep our minds focused on each other’s moves and if our minds don’t wander it should be harder for her to find out that you’re going to be the one getting the flag. Also Jean can’t read your mind as easily as ours, or so she says.” Jubilee explained stretched her hands out and loosened her wrists up. Darcy joined in with the stretching, it had been a long while since she had done any form of exercise (not including the adrenaline fuelled run from her school). _This might actually work._

“Sounds like there’s a small chance it might actually work.” Darcy laughed, shock and excitement laced her voice.

“I sure hope so.” Kurt added and Jubilee tried to punch his arm but he poofed out of existence and turned up on the other side of Darcy. The other team turned back towards them, Jean’s hair floating slightly and Ororo’s cape rippling in the sudden wind.

“Alright, everyone ready?” Xavier called out from a viewing screen situated in the wall. At everyone’s affirmative the landscape morphed into that of a darkened woodland. Darcy’s gasp of shock echoed through the landscape.

“Three.”

Darcy spread her legs apart and sunk into her knees ready to run.

“Two.”

She slammed a mental wall shut, blocking everything out and focused on slowing her senses down.

“One.”

She dropped her breathing down and listened out for the steady thump of heart beats.

“Go!”

Darcy sprang into action and hid behind the tallest tree she could find. The sounds of wind ruffling the leaves scraped at her ear drums and she quickly shoved her hands over them. _Focus, push it out, look for their heart beats._

She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing down. She quickly latched onto the familiar heartbeat of Jean and opened her eyes. There was a glimpse of copper hair in the corner of her eye and she slunk back behind the tree out of sight.

She could do this, she could _so_ do this. All she’d have to do was sneak up on a telepath. _Ha._

Darcy crouched down towards the floor and pressed her palms to the floor. There was a slight tremor to the ground coming from her right. _Ororo_. Her powers were much more awe inspiring in person, if Darcy didn’t know any better she might have thought she was in the presence of a goddess, she commanded power with every graceful movement. The way she manipulated the weather made her look like she was dancing with a lifelong partner. Part of Darcy was envious of the seamless control, hell she didn’t even really know the extent of her own powers yet. The fact she could block telepaths was news to her.

_Telepaths. Jean. Focus. Look for her heartbeat. Find the lavender. You know it by now._

Spending so much time with Jean was starting to come to her advantage, her ears could distinguish the gentle, controlled thump of Jean’s heart from the rapid chaos of the others. She latched onto the sound and searched for the other marker’s that were so very Jean to pinpoint her.

_Got her._

She moved slowly, planting her feet from heel to toe as she crept around the trees. The years of trying and failing to creep up on Peter had helped her hone her ability to walk quietly. Jean was stood by herself in a clearing, the red flag flapping chaotically behind her. _If I could get behind her I might be able to get the flag, keep to her blindspots._

A branch dropped from the tree above her and Jean’s head snapped in her direction. _Shit._ She dove behind the tree and pressed her hand over her mouth. She felt the slightest brush of Jean trying to find a mind, before it eased and she heard Jean release a breath and her heartbeat slow back to normal.

“I know you’re there Darcy. So I suggest you leave and rethink your tactics.” Jean shouted, her eyes flittered over each possible direction of attack in front of her, her eyes skimming over her position. _She’s bluffing._

Darcy stood back up behind the tree. Her hands picked up a small rock on her way up. It was a simple tactic but one that Darcy had used successfully before. If she could get a clear shot it should work.

“Seriously, we’d understand if you lost, seeing as it’s your first time and all.” Darcy rolled her eyes and moved backwards, searching for the perfect viewpoint. She could hear a slight commotion on her right hand side, a high pitched laugh from Jubilee and an annoyed groan from Ororo. Jean’s attention darted towards the noise and Darcy took her opportunity to cover some distance between herself and the blindspot behind Jean.

“Dammit.” Jean hissed under her breath and backed toward the flag. _Please work, please work, please work_. Darcy edged towards the tree line, bouncing the stone in her palm. Just a few more metres.

Jean’s eyes kept flittering back to Jubilee and Ororo as Darcy moved to the tree line.

In the end Darcy didn’t need to throw the rock. The distraction came from Scott’s distant shout of ‘Kurt’. For Darcy everything happened in slow motion, distorted and intermittent like a stuttering radio. There was a bright flash of colours, the taste of electricity, the sound of air ripping apart and the distinct feeling that she had made a huge mistake.

When Jean had whipped her head around to Scott, Darcy had sprinted for the flag. She abandoned the rest of her senses and pushed her legs as fast as they could. I can make it. Metres from reaching the flag she felt her hair whip around her head and felt the air shift. _They still haven’t noticed me._ Then she felt nothing.

She didn’t feel the shift in temperature as Ororo pulled the air to her side. She didn’t feel Jean throw her hands out toward Jubilee. And she didn’t feel herself get caught between the two.

She did feel herself flying through the air. She felt the air collapse out her chest as she slammed into the tree line. She felt the rough bark slice her skin and the solid trunk crack against her nose. And then she felt the cool floor pressing against her face.

_Fuck._

“Darcy. Darcy, wake up.”

A strong hand shook her shoulder and Darcy groaned. The annoying hand rolled her onto her back and Darcy pushed the hand away. “mmsleepingleemealone.” She kept her eyes shut. _Why’s my bed so hard._

“That’s because you aren’t in your bed.” The voice huffed and Darcy swiped her hand over her face. _Ugh wet._

“C’mon Dee, listen to Jean.”

 _Scott, Jean._ “Get out of my room.”

“We aren’t in your room.”

“If you want, I could make it rain on her face.”

“I think we’ve had enough weather for one day Ro.” _Jean._

“Should I go get Dr McCoy?”

“Do it. I’ll go get the professor.”

She heard a shuffling of feet running and the air moving. There were hands running over her arms and Darcy shivered as they brushed the ticklish spot inside her elbow. She kept her eyes shut and tried to roll over. The hands stopped moving. Darcy sighed in contentment and the huffed when the hands went back to the ticklish spot on her arm.

“Get off me.”

“Not till you open your eyes.” The voice retorted and doubled the movement over her arms, making Darcy wriggle to get away from the sensation. She pulled her eyes open and pushed herself into a sitting position.

“You happy now.” She snapped at the voice, who turned out to be Jean, who was a lot closer than she expected. Their noses almost brushed and they stayed there looking at each other for one breath. The drip of blood dripping onto Darcy’s chest broke their stare and Jean sprung into movement.

“You should lie back down, you might be concussed.” Jean commanded, her hands pushing Darcy back towards the floor.

“You were the one that just told me to get up.” She shoved Jean’s hands off her and sat up properly. Her senses were back in full force and there was no more pain running through her body.

“I told you to open your eyes, not get up.” Jean scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Darcy could hear her heart thrumming fast and saw her fingers trembling slightly. Darcy’s eyes softened from the glare and she rolled her head from side to side and loosened her muscles out.

“I’m fine Jean.” Darcy smiled and tucked her feet to the side of her. Jean raised her eyebrows and looked pointedly at the trail of blood on Darcy’s face. The doors to the danger room opened and Dr McCoy came rushing in with Jubilee and Ororo hot on the tails of his lab coat. Darcy rolled her eyes and gave them a little wave.

Dr McCoy slowed down, startled by the fact that Darcy wasn’t passed out on the floor and horrendously injured. The Professor, Kurt and Scott almost crashed into his back. They all seemed frozen in surprise and Darcy frowned. Surely they knew I heal quick, right. The Professor’s face quirked slightly before he cleared his throat, snapping everyone out of their shock induced stasis.

“I believe that’ll be the end of the training session for the day.” He smiled as he rolled towards Darcy and Jean.

“Cool. That was pretty awesome you know, I get why you like it so much. I mean I’ve never flown before so that was pretty amazing.” Darcy laughed and got to her feet. Jean hovered behind her, her hands inches away from Darcy ready to break her fall. Her classmate’s eyes were still frozen as she started walking towards them.

Scott was the first one to break the silence. “But-how are you-you were just knocked out.” His voice rose towards the end and their classmates joined in with similar questions, bombarding Darcy.

“I heal fast, I thought you guys knew?” She said, accepting the wipes Dr McCoy was offering. She swiped the blood clear from her face and her arms. There was only a slight red tint to her arms to suggest that there was anything different.

“Of course you do.” Jean huffed. Darcy laughed at the annoyance in her voice and this seemed to break the tension in the room.

“Well I believe that’s enough excitement for tonight, why don’t all of you go and get cleaned up and we’ll review the tactics from tonight’s session at the end of Friday’s session, provided you want to carry on with this, of course, Darcy?” The Professor questioned, a glint in his eye.

“Hell yeah I do.” Darcy grinned. The Professor laughed and they all filtered out of the danger room and made their way back to their rooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you think of the new chapter? Comments makes the writer go round! Next chapter we will get to see Jean and Darcy get closer than we have ever seen them before ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are thoughts. Bold and italics is telepathic communications.

Darcy felt the heavy weight of Jean’s eyes searching every inch of her bare skin. It felt as if the red head had been constantly evaluating her since she had passed out twenty minutes earlier, despite the fact that she was _perfectly fine, thank you for asking._

Jean’s steps stuttered as they approached their adjacent rooms and part of Darcy was surprised when Jean actually turned and entered her own room. On some level she had expected Jean to be so laser focused that she would forget her surroundings and follow her into her room. Her eyes skimmed over Darcy one last time before she opened the door.

Over the past few weeks Darcy had become familiar with the haphazard string of sensations that Jean threw off. Enough so that she could tell when something was wrong, like now. Jean was agitated. She could hear the butterfly palpitations of her heart and taste the sour nervous sweat mixing that was seeping out of her pores as it mixed with the baseline scent of lavender and _Jean._

Restless, Darcy found herself stood alone outside of her room, her hand on the door knob, but not turning it. _Fuck it._ Her body moved instinctively towards Jean’s room and she snapped her knuckles against the wooden frame until the door was yanked open.

“What?”

Darcy ignored the question and barged past her into the room and pushed the door closed behind them. Jean was held taut like a tight wire, with a glare that would scare most people off, she crossed her arms over her chest and stepped away from Darcy. The space gave her a better view of Jean’s state of dress: a tank top and a pair of compression shorts which showed off deceptively muscled thighs, her training suit lay crumpled in the corner.

Darcy sucked a breath between her teeth and stripped down to her sports bra and panties.

“Darcy, what the hell are you doing?” Jean questioned. Her eyes stayed resolutely stuck to Darcy’s face as a blush crept over her cheeks. Although, Darcy totally wouldn’t blame her if she _did_ look, she had a banging rack and she knew it.

“You can touch me.” She barely refrained from smacking herself on the face at the way the words spewed out of her mouth.

“Excuse me?” Jean choked, her blush radiated down her chest and Darcy stopped herself from letting her eyes wander any further south.

“I mean, to stop you from worrying. You didn’t look all that convinced that I’m fine.” Darcy pulled her lips into a smile, _this was a stupid idea._

“Oh.” Jean released the breath that was stuck in her chest and her arms dropped to her side as her body relaxed.

“I am okay, you know.” The corner of her lips tilted into an actual smirk. “Look, there are no cuts, scabs or anything.” She twirled on the spot, her legs caught on her pile of clothes and she face-planted the carpet in front of Jean, her chin scraped along said carpet.

“Are you sure?” She laughed and crouched to look Darcy in the eye. She groaned and rolled back onto her knees; she kept her head down to prevent Jean from seeing the heat of embarrassment on her face.

“Yeah.”

She jumped at Jean’s gentle laugh and the feeling of cool, soft fingertips as they gripped her upper arm and pulled her into a standing position.

“Are you sure? I should probably check you out.” Jean’s mouth snapped shut at her own words. At Darcy’s completely unladylike snort she smiled and carried on. “You know, just to make sure you haven’t re-injured yourself.”

Darcy nodded and pulled her hair back from her face. Jean ran her fingers over the back of Darcy’s hand -movements methodical at first- the future med student evident in the way she moved. She checked for anything out of the ordinary and moved from Darcy’s arms, to shoulders and then down her other arm.

The soft brush of skin on skin seared her nervous system. Darcy held her breath and looked over Jean’s shoulder, trying to find something-anything to distract from the visceral reaction caused by Jean’s touch. Darcy had never been burned before, but she imagined that this is what it felt like. Her nerves were quick to shoot any miniscule sensation throughout her body, amplifying it till it sang in her blood.

“Well, your arms are safe.” Jean huffed. Her breath fluttered the strands of her copper hair hanging down from her top knot and they tickled Darcy. _Stop it Darcy. This isn’t normal_. Darcy hummed and sealed her lips. “Now, let me see your face.” Darcy could feel Jean’s heart calming as she checked over Darcy for the non-existent injuries. _At least she’ll quit worrying_. She tilted her head up to look at Jean and bit the inside of her cheek to stop the gasp coming up her throat. This was the closest she had been to Jean’s face, at least since the day they had so eventfully met a few months prior.

There was so much more depth to her face than she had originally seen. Concentration lines had formed on her forehead that carved her smooth skin. There was a scar, barely the size of a shirt button, high up on her right cheekbone. It was whiter than the rest of her face and it sliced open the freckles around it, they looked like shattered rock – whereas the rest of them looked smoother and more sand like – they were jagged and ripped. The freckles that dotted her face scattered all along her neck and Darcy dared to imagine that they covered the rest of her. She was reminded of the daisies that littered the garden of her Grandmother’s house. She used to spend countless hours sprawled in that backyard, counting each individual daisy and feeling the silken pull of petals as she threaded them through her fingers to make daisy chains. She felt the strong desire to do the same thing to Jean’s freckles. To feel them under her fingertips and count each individual one, to join them together from dot to dot until she had mapped the constellation that covered Jean’s skin.

Her eyelashes were a lot darker than her hair, not quite brown, but not copper either. _Cinnamon._ She had pores and there were small wrinkles under her eyes and her lips were chapped with fresh blood seeping from the cuts. She could taste the iron coming from them.

_Calm down._

Darcy’s lips parted and her breath got stuck in her throat when Jean trailed her fingers down the side of her face, she barely even touched her. She fought the blush that Jean’s touch elicited and tried to distract her mind by counting the freckles on Jean’s nose. _27.28.29…..1.2.3.4._ Every time Jean lifted her fingers she lost count as her mind searched for the sudden loss of sensation.

_This was a bad idea. You couldn’t just go into your own room and avoid all of this now could you?_

Her mental scolding was interrupted by Jean.

“It was scary you know.”

“What?”

“Seeing you hit that tree and-and then you just fell to the floor covered in blood. I know I’ve seen some nasty things before but-” She swallowed. “I don’t like seeing my friends get hurt, especially when I should have done something to stop it.”

“It wasn’t your fault in any way at all Jean. I think it’s fair to say that I got a bit too cocky for my first time training. I’m the one that should be apologising.”

Jean huffed. “Just don’t do it again, okay?”

“I’m not making any promises.” She gave Jean a gentle smile and she rolled her eyes before focusing back on the task at hand.

Her finger’s ghosted over her neck and Darcy breathed in the heady scent of lavender, sweat and _Jean_. Except, it wasn’t just _Jean_ now, their scents had twined themselves together. _Charcoal and Lavender._ Darcy felt the thin layer of energy that had poured off of Jean and coated her. It was warm and honey-like and soothed Darcy’s throat more than any drink ever had. It was nauseating. _Intoxicating._

She wanted _more._

Darcy swallowed. Jean’s finger’s bumped against the tendons in her throat and they followed the phantom stain of blood up towards her chin.

_Don’t. Stop it Darcy. Stop it now._

Jean cupped her jaw and looked into her eyes. She simply stared right through them. If Darcy didn’t know for certain that her mental barriers were up and that Jean wasn’t in her head, she would be petrified that she had given her a front row seat to the battle between the logical part of her brain and the part of her brain that screamed every single time Jean so much as touched her. She couldn’t breathe.

She wanted to devour her, so no single cell in her body was left unsaturated. To gorge on the cloying scent of lavender and something dark and syrupy, till it dripped from her mouth and stained her lips. A sign to the world that Jean had claimed her and that no one else could ever fill that place. The need was primal and so all-consuming she could feel fear and restlessness crawling underneath her skin, begging to be released.

_Don’t stop it. Don’t stop. Please don’t stop._

Jean blinked and Darcy released her breath.

_What the hell are you doing Darcy? Don’t you remember how much it hurt last time._

“Do I get the all clear then, Doc?” She joked, her hands clenched behind her back. Jean dropped her hands and looked away startled, as if she had just realised what she was doing. Something snapped in the room and it suddenly felt just like those first few hostile weeks.

“Well, you aren’t bleeding,” she replied her voice held a new found cold edge to it.

“Good because I’m just going to go nick all the hot water from the shower.” She plastered a grin on to her face and stepped out of Jean’s space. _Keep your distance. You know it’s for the best._

Jean rolled her eyes and flopped down onto her bed. “Don’t you dare.”

She stuck her tongue out and shut herself into their shared bathroom, the mirth slid from her face as soon as she heard the lock click. It was a short reprieve as she heard a scoff and Jean’s stomping feet.

“Jerk, get back in here, you left your sweaty clothes.” Jean shouted through the door and Darcy forced a laugh from her chest and opened the door to Jean. She was smacked in the face by her own clothes and she caught a brief glimpse of Jean’s middle finger salute as she closed the door.

_Why do I do this to myself?_

Darcy dropped the clothes to the floor and yanked the shower curtain back. Water had always helped her clear her head. The first time she had been overloaded by her senses when she was a child her Mother had scooped her up and sat them down in the bottom of their crappy little shower. At first the repetitive hit of water on her skin had made her cry harder, but it soon became the only thing she could focus on and all of her other sense had finally shut up. She had never doubted her Mother again.

So maybe this would work to help scrub Jean from her mind. It would make it easier for her to distance herself if she couldn’t feel the remnants of Jean’s touches against her skin, or the shadow of Jean’s energy coating her body.

She tried. She did, but the running water along her skin only served to intensify the memory of Jean’s fingers roving over her body. The gentle tickle. The silken slide. It sent a warm sensation throughout her body at the simple memory of Jean stroking her cheek. It had been a long, long while since someone had touched her like that, soft, like she could still be broken. She hadn’t known that it was something she missed. The desire to be touched without some hidden agenda had now taken residence in her, somewhere near her stomach was a fishing hook yanking her towards Jean, chasing that sensation.

Despite the fact that the shower did nothing to assuage her mind from thinking about Jean, it did help to soothe her muscles and wash away the residue from the training session.

When she eventually emerged from the shower she dried herself off, pulled on her softest pyjamas and climbed into bed, a whole two hours earlier than she normally would. Her muscles didn’t need the rest and her brain was too wired, but there was nothing else she could think to do. Every other night lately she had spent in the presence of Jean. Before she had moved here she used to spend her evenings alone, at ease with the gentle motion of life passing by around her.

Tonight she felt redundant lying alone in bed with nothing to do apart from keep herself away from Jean and all the thoughts surrounding her.

She could’ve walked the grounds, but then she may have bumped into someone and been forced into conversation. In her current condition she dared not speak in case her brain let slip the treacherous thoughts that filled her head. The library could work, at least no one would talk to her there, then again every one of her memories of the room had been tainted by images of Jean bathed in sunlight, her hands scribbling down notes from a nest of books she had made. _So that’s a no then._ Even reading in her own room wouldn’t work as the only book she hadn’t read was one that Jean had oh so happily shoved into her hands when she learnt that Darcy hadn’t read it. And Darcy, the sucker, had beamed and taken it, eager to get to know her new friend better, as in Darcy’s opinion, _when you’ve read someone’s favourite book you get to see a little piece of their soul you hadn’t before._

She scrubbed her hands over her eyes.

_All roads lead back to her._

She lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling and counted the swirls in the plaster above her.

It wasn’t interesting but at least it was something. She knew she wouldn’t be sleeping any time soon. The seconds, minutes, hours ticked by as if they were drenched in molasses and her hands rose up and down with each breath she let fill her lungs. _This shouldn’t be so hard. Just focus on your breath. Not her. Or the smell of lavender. Or her heart beating through the wall. She smiled. Or the fact that you want to count every single one of her freckles._

_Ha._

_Easy._

Darcy scoffed and sighed the barest hint of lavender tickled the back of her throat and she groaned when she found herself breathing deeper to follow the scent.

_I’m fucking screwed._

She rolled over and shoved her face into the pillow to drown herself in the neutral fresh linen.

Jean’s heartbeat raced and Darcy shot up in her bed. _What?_

She could feel the air in Jean’s room shake. A rattling sound bounced of off the walls and escaped through the bathroom. She got up and pressed her ear to the bathroom door. _What is going on?_ There was the nervous sweat smell again. Before she could decide what to do next there was a high pitched keening and she was through the door.

Jean was spread out on her bed, her limbs tangled with the sheets, sweat staining them. Her hair was damp and looked black where it clung to her skin. Her books, pictures, glasses and everything else in her room trembled like there was an earthquake. _Oh no_. Darcy clapped her hand over her mouth and moved to sit on the floor next to Jean’s bed.

Jean whimpered and Darcy’s heart broke. Tears slipped out of her eyes and she looked so small and scared. She perched on the edge of the bed, and leaned over Jean.

“Wake up Jean. It’s my turn to wake you up now.” Jean’s head thrashed and a glass crashed behind her. “Wake up, please wake up.” She pushed the covers off of Jean so her limbs could move freely. _Feeling less trapped might help._ She whimpered again and tears slipped down Darcy’s face this time. _Think, think, think_. She ran her hands through her hair. _Wait she’s trapped in a nightmare, she can’t hear me talking. Think. THINK. GODDAMMIT.THAT’S THE ANSWER._ She allowed herself a split second for victory before she cupped Jean’s face and dropped the barriers in her head.

_**“Jean. Can you hear me? If you can hear me, wake up. It’s just a nightmare. I’m here. I’m right here with you.”**_ Darcy strained to push her thoughts, she had no idea what she was doing, she only hoped this was actually getting through to her. **_“Jean, it’s Darcy. Open your eyes please. C’mon, I wanna see those pretty green eyes.”_**

Jean’s eyes flickered from side to side under her eyelids. _**“What are you seeing?”**_

Her vision blacked out. Chaos surrounded her. Twisted metal and crumbling buildings and then there was only fire. Her eyes were burning and she desperately wanted to shut her eyes but she couldn’t.

_**“Darcy?”** _

She couldn’t see her but Jean sounded smaller than she had ever been. There was no sharpness that Darcy had come to associate with everything Jean.

_**“Jean. I’m here, you’re safe you can wake up now.”** _

_**“I’m not safe, I’m not safe, I’m not safe.”**_ She chanted to herself.

_**“Bullshit. Now wake up.”**_ Darcy’s vision slipped back into her eyes, but the connection with Jean stayed strong. It felt disorienting, her mind in a different place to her body.

_**“I can’t.”** _

_**“You can, I’m gonna help you. Focus on my heartbeat.”**_ Darcy pulled her hands from Jean’s face, her face scrunched like she was in pain and Darcy pulled Jean’s hands into her own, pressing them under the collar of her shirt against her sternum. She felt her own heart beat steady in her ears and focused on it with everything she had.

_**“Darcy…”**_ Jean whimpered and she strained herself to push the sound further into Jean’s mind.

_**“Open your eyes, focus on my heart beat and open your eyes.”**_ She whispered this mantra for what felt like hours until the rattling stopped and she saw flickers of Jean’s sea glass eyes.

It took a few minutes for Jean to come to her senses and Darcy took the time to just breathe, slowing her body back down into some semblance of normal.

Jean looked at Darcy, her lips trembled into a smile and Darcy smiled back at her. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Jean rubbed at her eyes and sat up against the headboard, Darcy sat back on the bed and looked over Jean.

“So you had a nightmare then.” Darcy stated, somewhat lamely. Jean nodded and pulled her hair away from her face, her body shook with tremors.

“Yeah. How did you-I didn’t hurt you right?” Jean’s eyes watered and Darcy frowned.

“No, no I just heard things rattling in here and then.” She swallowed. “And then I heard you cry, so I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Jean sagged, her eyes sliding half shut as she nodded. “Thank you.” She looked so bone tired and exhausted that Darcy thought she could do with a day’s worth of sleep. Even her energy had dimmed down to a burnt orange, it barely glimmered.

“Well you’re okay now. Did you want me to go? You look like you need some rest.” Darcy questioned, she shuffled slightly off the bed but at the word ‘go’ Jean’s eyes flew open and her hand flew out to wrap around Darcy’s wrist. She looked embarrassed that she had latched onto Darcy but she didn’t loosen her grip.

“I guess I could stay for a bit, I don’t really feel all that tired.” Darcy suggested and slid up next to Jean, resting against the headboard. There was barely a hair’s gap between their skin, and despite what she had said, Darcy was too tired to put any distance between them. Jean smiled slightly and she clasped her hands together to stop their shaking.

“I- I started reading The Hobbit. It’s pretty good, so far.” Darcy smiled as she managed to coax Jean into a conversation about The Hobbit. Jean took the lead when it was obvious that Darcy wasn’t all that knowledgeable on the topic. Darcy listened, content that with each passing minute as Jean’s heartbeat steadied and her muscles relaxed.

It was nearing early morning when Darcy felt her body start to protest at the late hour. Her eyes began to droop and she tried and failed to silence the yawn that was clawing up her throat. “I should go back to my room, we both need to get some sleep before tomorrow.”

Jean’s eyes widened and she saw fear flash across Jean’s face. “I think I might stay up, re-read The Hobbit. But you should go back to bed if you’re tired, don’t let me keep you.” Jean’s lips pulled into a tight smile and she avoided eye contact. _She’s scared to go to sleep._

“Now that you mention it, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a bed time story- I know-I know I’m not a baby anymore and I don’t need a bed time story. But if you’re going to be up reading it anyway, why not indulge me and read it to me.” Darcy smiled coyly. Jean rolled her eyes but slid over to the other side of the bed and pulled the covers over them.

“Just this once.” She conceded as Darcy snuggled up next to her, making sure to keep a respectable distance between them in an attempt to protect her own sanity.

What felt like minutes later, but must have been hours later going by the sunlight in the room, Darcy woke to pins and needles in her right and a mouth full of hair that wasn’t her own. Each curve and plane of her body was moulded up against Jean, and the other girl was paralysed in deep sleep. Her breathing whooshing in and out of her mouth somewhere between a snore and a sigh.

Sometime in the night Darcy’s hand had gravitated around Jean’s middle, sealing any space between the two of them and her head had nestled into the crook between the taller girl’s shoulder and neck.

She had never felt so content yet so doomed in her entire life. Her nose pressed against Jean’s freckled back and she took a deep breath. A traitorous part of her mind whispered _home_ and she scrunched her eyes shut but pulled Jean closer to her. Her heart raced as a contented sigh escaped Jean’s mouth and she tangled their feet together.

_So much for keeping your distance._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I spent a long long time writing and rewriting this section so i hope it paid off, please let me know what you thought about it! I really hope you like it and in the next chapter we have a time jump as their story progresses along in time! It's the first time that I've written something this intimate before so it's a little scary to be putting it out there into the world :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are thoughts.

** _Three years later:_ **

It seemed only natural that when Darcy and Jean had decided to look at colleges in the same area and when they eventually got accepted by the same place – for history and pre-med respectively- that they would move in together. So that was what they did, almost three years ago.

It was a small thing, a little more than a studio; two bedrooms shoved next to each other with a bathroom kitchenette and a cosy little living room that contained their threadbare, elderly couch. Darcy loved it, with all the little nick-knacks that they had accumulated over the years.

It smelled like both of them, lavender and charcoal and a blend of Jean and Darcy.

None of their friends truly understood why the two of them were friends, choosing simply to ignore the unusual pair or not ask questions. They just expected to see walking around campus: one bright and candy looking and the other dressed in all black with ridiculous glasses. Still, they had their own separate lives and friends.

Jean spent a lot her time in the hospital at odd hours and then coming home and crashing on the sofa until Darcy pestered her to move to her bedroom.

And Darcy, well, she spent her time trying to crush the more than friendly feelings she had for her roommate. Whether that was by partying, spending her time in the library getting ahead of her assignments or by convincing herself that she liked the guy that was pursuing her at the time. It was a tiring pattern that she had gotten into over the past two and a bit years but, she thought, _it might work next time._

That next time never came, she realised, as she was curled on Jean and hers couch with her beau of the past few months – Max- stood by their kitchen counter.

“I’m sorry. I just- I don’t think this is working out.” She told him, her hands were tucked inside her jumper and her shoulders were hunched. Max had to be the most exciting guy she had been out with, but she never felt anything for him, there was just a hollow pit where she kept expecting the affection to turn up.

“Why? What’s wrong with us Darcy?” His face was screwed up in confusion and Darcy desperately wanted to roll her eyes, _can’t he see that I don’t actually like him_.

“Are you joking Max? There’s nothing between us, no spark, there’s not even a fucking fizzle.” Darcy scoffed.

“That’s romantic bullshit and you know it.” Max laughed and Darcy snapped herself from the couch. “It only happens in fairytales and books, it’s not real.”

“Yes it is.” Darcy snarled. _If it wasn’t fucking real I wouldn’t be in this mess._

He rolled his eyes. “Like you’d know.” Darcy glared at him and crossed her arms to restrain the energy vibrating through her. Max laughed at her and Darcy’s heartbeat echoed through her ears and she could feel her bones creaking. “I can’t believe you’re serious. You need to grow up and stop believing in shit like that. Soulmates aren’t real.”

“Stop talking.” Her jaw popped as Darcy ground the words out.

“Fine. Keep believing that. Just don’t expect me to take you back when you realise it isn’t real and you’re left alone with your mutant bitch roommate.” He spat the words at her and Darcy flinched. “Yeah, I figured that out all by myself.” Darcy seethed and barely stopped herself from launching at him.

“Get the fuck out now.” She hissed.

“Why, what are you gonna do?” He laughed, using his height to look down at her. He may have been intimidating to others, but Darcy just bared her teeth and stood to her full height.

“Leave. Or. I. Will. Make. You. Leave.” He backed away slightly, scrutinising her.

“Holy shit. You’re a mutant too.”

She uncrossed her arms and let them fall slowly to her sides. Her eyes burned. “Get. Out.”

Max scarpered out of the apartment, knocking the coffee table over in his haste to leave. It wasn’t until she had heard his heartbeat leave the building did she let herself fall back onto the couch and curl in on herself. Sobs wracked her body and tears soaked her face. _What have I done? We were almost there. And now it’s gone. All because I love someone I can’t._

The thought that she had ruined Jean’s college life as well as her own set off another round of hysterics and she tucked her hands over hears and tried to silence the world around her.

_We need to leave._

Darcy sprung up from her position on the couch as her mind snapped into hyperawareness. _Pack. Delete our records. Get out of here._ She rushed into her room and pulled her duffel bag out of her wardrobe, shoving all of the essentials inside. Somehow she managed to get everything necessary despite the tears marring her vision.

So focused on her task she didn’t hear Jean let herself into the apartment, or her shouting that she was planning on ordering pizza. Not even the door opening and the mug Jean was holding clattering on the floor.

“Darcy!”

Her head snapped up and she cried even harder. Jean’s face crumpled. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry.” Darcy carried on shoving her clothes into a bag. “We-uh-we need to leave. Now.”

“Wait, what why?” Jean looked so utterly confused. Darcy swiped her face with both hands, drying her cheeks, the delicate skin under her eyes felt raw and ripped. Jean pulled her hands from her face and held them in her own, running her thumbs over knuckles. “Hey, look at me. What happened? Why are you so upset?”

Darcy sniffled. “I-I had an argument with Max, and he-he-” She sobbed again and Jean cupped her face, swiping at her tears with delicate fingers. “He knows we’re mutants Jean. We have to leave before someone finds us.” Jean froze, her eyes going almost black before she directed Darcy back to her bed, she pushed the clothes onto the floor and knelt down in front of her.

“Just hold on for a second.” Jean rubbed her palms down Darcy’s thighs to help calm her down. “Darcy, give me an hour, take a breath, relax, stay here and stop packing. If we still need to leave after that you can contact The Professor and I’ll get Kurt.” She tilted Darcy’s head up to make her look in the eye. “Promise me you won’t get scared and run okay?”Darcy nodded and Jean pulled her into a quick hug, breathing her in deep.

Jean left, shutting the door behind her and Darcy curled up in the mess of clothes on her bed. She didn’t know how exhausted she truly was until her head hit the pillow and her eyes drooped shut.

She didn’t know how long it had been but she awoke to a darkened room and the smell of tomato, basil and mozzarella wafting up her nose. She got up and crept into the living room, Jean was sat on the floor bent over the coffee table dishing up pizza slices, her hair was in a tangled bun atop her head, thin pieces falling out and sticking to the back of her neck. She was beautiful and part of Darcy couldn’t believe she had ever tried to deny how she felt about the girl.

_Maybe it’s okay if I love her, she doesn’t even have to love me back._

“Hey.” Jean smiled and Darcy’s breath got knocked from her chest.

“You don’t have to worry about Max anymore, he doesn’t even know we’re mutants anymore.” Tears Darcy didn’t think she had left escaped her eyes and Jean pulled her down to the floor in a tangle of limbs. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” Jean stroked down her back as Darcy cried into the milky skin of Jean’s collarbone. “He was a jerk anyway.” Darcy laughed wetly.

“I know.” Darcy pulled one arm from around Jean and they split apart to dig in to their pizza.

At some point the crawled onto the couch and they ended up with Jean leaned up against the arm with Darcy around her legs, her arms wrapped around her waist. She lent her head back to look at Jean who was starting to pet at Darcy’s hair. “Do you think it’ll ever be normal?” Her voice breaking the peaceful silence.

“Think what’ll be normal?”

“Dating. I just, nothing seems to ever work out for one reason or another, I feel like I’ll never have that perfect love that we’re all supposed to be searching for.” She sniffled.

“I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it too much, have you?” Jean stroked her face.

“I don’t think I’ll ever know what it feels like to love someone that much and for them to love me back like that. I don’t know about kids or marriage but if there’s one thing I wish, it’s that I’ll get to experience that. My Mother always made it sound so spiritual.” She pressed her cheek into Jean’s knee.

“The way you say it makes me want it more than I thought I could.” Jean whispered, Darcy looked her in the eye and they sat in peaceful silence again.

Only for it to be broken by a bone cracking yawn coming from Darcy’s mouth.

“Sounds like someone needs to go to bed.” Jean laughed and rubbed at her own eyes. Darcy untangled herself from Jean, she put their dishes away in the kitchen and by the time she came back out Jean had locked the front door and was turning the lights off.

“Jean?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you sleep with me? I don’t particularly feel like being alone.” Darcy ducked her head down, she didn’t want to see as well as hear the rejection, she felt selfish tonight. _What the hell, it couldn’t make today any worse._

“Okay. I’ll go get changed.” Darcy tried to school the shock from her face, this would be the first time they slept together since they had come to university and Darcy had decided to try and break her feelings for Jean. She nodded and walked into her room, chucking her clothes away and donning a t-shirt she had stolen from Jean a while ago and a pair of sleep shorts. She turned the lamp on and slid under the covers.

Jean pushed the door open and crawled in behind Darcy, leaning over Darcy to turn out the lamp. She sighed, and Darcy was soothed by the soft flutter of her hair moving.

“You’ll be okay you know.” She whispered, wrapping her arm around Darcy’s waist and she drew her in close. Darcy rolled over until they were nose to nose. “We’ll always have each other right.”

“We don’t need anyone else.”

She closed her eyes and pressed her face into Jean’s neck.

_Lavender. Jean. Home._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think, I've been having a few technical problems lately so the updates may be a little slower than they have been but the first part will be finished by the end of the week!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are thoughts and bold and italics is telepathic communications.

**_Five months later:_ **

“DARCY!”

“Yeah?”

“Have you seen my assignment it was on the coffee table, I swear I turn my back for a second and everything gets lost.” Jean pulled at her hair and threw the cushions off of the couch.

The last few weeks had been some of the most stressful weeks Jean had been through, which was saying a lot. Darcy had finished her last class last week and effectively finished her degree. Jean had spent the last week surviving off of coffee, leftovers and sheer will power to finish everything on time, if it hadn’t been for Darcy she would most likely have been comatose from lack of sleep and not finishing her degree at all. Right now she was looking for her last assignment, _which has to be in within the next hour FUCK._

“You mean this stack of paper right next to me, safely on the counter out of the way of your tirade?” Darcy chuckled, inhaling the coffee in her cup. Jean had been awake since one am putting the finishing touches on her assignment and Darcy had been right by her side, proof reading when Jean couldn’t pick out the words she was reading. Her hair looked adorable, all fluffy and sticking in each direction, she was wearing a top that she had stolen from herself a few months prior along with a pair of sleep shorts that exposed the expanse of her paper white legs, the legs which Jean had a deep seated appreciation of.

“You’re an absolute lifesaver. I could kiss you!” The words spewed from Jean’s mouth without her permission. _Chill out jeez_. Darcy’s face had a light blush which only served to make her look more doll like.

“No worries, it’s in my own interest anyway, I get to go back to bed when you leave.” She smiled sleepily and Jean felt bad for not quite realising how much her own mood had been seeping into Darcy’s. Darcy must have noticed the look on her face. “Hey, Jean seriously I’m happy to help, I know if it had been me finishing later you’d do the same thing for me.” She shrugged her shoulders and held the papers out for Jean.

_How did I get so lucky?_

Jean grabbed the papers from her and pulled her into a vice grip, as if she was trying to merge the two of them together. All of Darcy’s curves were pressed against her own and when she breathed in deep she could taste the smoky scent she had come to associate with Darcy and feel the perfect way their skin slid against each other. _Oh yeah, that would be how._ Jean let go before she did anything stupid and patted Darcy on the head.

“I’ll see you later, get some sleep.”

“Good luck, not that you’ll need it.” Darcy replied, following her to the door as Jean grabbed her bag and struggled with her keys and assignment. She pulled the door open and Jean left, giving Darcy a little wave on the way out.

* * *

It had been a bit tight for Jean’s liking. By the time she got to campus she had less than twenty minutes to get to her lecturer’s office, but get there she did. With her hair a mess, big bags under her eyes and a massive coffee stain on her shirt that she hadn’t noticed till she was on the bus.

Now all she wanted was to go home, sleep for four or five days straight after having the longest hottest bubble bath she could. She felt her feet dragging up the stairs back to their apartment and by the time she had the door open she was ready to drop onto the couch out of a caffeine, stress and sugar crash added into her sleep deprived state.

When she opened the door the sight she saw stopped her in her tracks. Jean’s mouth went dry.

It was Darcy. Splayed out on the couch, her limbs flung out in what looked to be an extremely uncomfortable position, her hair covering her eyes and poking into her mouth. The hair fluttering with each slow breath she took. Her shirt was creased and rumpled beyond belief and her glasses were on the floor next to her outstretched hand.

_She didn’t even make it to her bed_. Jean mused, shutting the door behind her. She placed her things down on the floor and just looked at Darcy. It was very rare that she had the opportunity to just look at her, she seemed to always be moving, her energy bubbling out of her in gestures, lighting her up and making Darcy really _Darcy._

_She looks devastating_. It always surprised Jean that none of Darcy’s _lovers_ worked out, how could they not see how beautiful a person she is. The part of her that she had spent too long trying to mask and hide took great pleasure in the fact that no one had taken Darcy away from her, that she was always there. _We’ll be graduating soon. What then? She’ll want to start her own life. And then she’ll be gone again._

Jean’s stomach wrenched at the thought of being without Darcy again, after so many years Darcy had somehow managed to twine herself into every part of Jean’s life. She found that she didn’t mind one bit.

_**We don’t need anyone else.** That was what she said, that all we need is each other._ She found her mind turning and pulling up memories that had been buried along with that selfish part of herself. _Oh_. She had always known that the way she felt about Darcy had been different from the way she felt about the rest of her friends, very different, but she had _never_ thought about acting on it.

The thought of Darcy leaving her side had her making decisions she never thought she would.

_What’s the worst that could happen?_ Jean bit her lip as she looked at Darcy who slept on none the wiser to Jean’s inner debate. _Well she could say no._ _Or she could be completely revolted and say that you’re a monster and never want to talk to you again_. Jean pulled her hair and started to try and pace around their cramped living room.

_If I don’t tell her I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. And live never knowing how she feels back._ Pressure started building behind Jean’s eyes and she started to rub at her eyes.

Successfully banging her shin on the coffee table.

“Fucking shit ow!” She cussed, falling to the floor and pulling her leg in close to inspect the damage. She heard a snuffling snorting noise and suddenly Darcy was lying on the floor next to her. _She’s ridiculous….and I may be a little bit in love with her_.

Jean started laughing, small tears slipping from her eyes.

Darcy groaned and rolled over onto her back. “What’s so funny Grey, never seen a girl fall off a couch before.” She rubbed at her eyes and Jean was suddenly struck by how young she was.

The corner of her lips turned up. “Not whilst making that noise at least.” She replied, Darcy’s eyes were still slightly unfocused with sleep and the eyelashes at the corner of her eyes were still stuck together slightly. Her lips were plump and a natural rose pink that Jean knew many people would pay a lot of money to try and achieve. _They’d never look as good._ She adored her lips just as much when they were painted with her signature wine red. There was a slight gap between her front teeth, it reminded Jean that Darcy wasn’t perfect and that, in fact it was all of these perceived imperfections that truly made her _her_. The choppy bangs she was trying to grow out seemed to always fall in her eyes, inside of the glasses, sometimes when she was particularly excited about something they would bounce around her head with a life of their own.

“Dude. Why are you staring? Is there something on my face? Did I drool again, I think we’re close enough that you can tell me if there’s drool on my face.” Darcy interrupted Jean’s thoughts, trying to rub non-existent drool off of her face. Jean’s face flamed and she broke her eye contact.

“Nothing there’s nothing I-” _What the hell, tomorrow could be the end of the world._ “I just wanted to say thank you-”

“Why?” Darcy interrupted, looking curiously at Jean.

“For everything you’ve done. I mean not just this past week-just.” She closed her eyes and took a breath to stop from mangling her words maybe you should sleep before declaring your undying love huh? Considering you haven’t slept for more than three hours in one go the past four days. She bit her lip. “I’m too tired to formulate any of what I actually want to say.” Jean laughed nervously. She jumped at Darcy’s hand stroking up and down her leg. “Let me say thank you properly tonight. Come to dinner with me at that new place round the corner?”

Darcy smiled. “Well I mean I’ve got to check my diary.” She joked. “Hmm let me see I can probably rearrange eating the leftover caramel ice-cream whilst watching pulp fiction to tomorrow night.” She squeezed Jean’s hand. “And I have been meaning to try that new place out.” Jean interlocked their fingers. “I’d love to go to dinner with you.”

“Good. I’m glad.” She barely repressed a yawn and stood up, pulling Darcy along with her. “I’m gonna go get more than three hours sleep first, I’ll be a better dinner date when I’m- you know- mostly conscious.”

Darcy giggled. “Hmmm I don’t know, sleepy Jean’s pretty cute sometimes.” Jean blushed and they went their separate ways.

Despite her lack of sleep, Jean found it almost impossible to fall asleep, what with the joy of finishing her degree, impending sort of date with Darcy and the nausea inducing idea of possibly losing her forever.

_What the hell am I doing?_

* * *

Jean lost her breath the second she saw Darcy. And she barely got it back the whole evening.

She was wearing a red dress that looked like a second skin, and the colour made her skin shine like crisp paper. A primal part of Jean was giddy at the fact that Darcy was wearing _her_ colour. Jean felt severely under dressed in comparison in an old little black dress she had kept for the rare occasion she went out.

“You look beautiful.” She whispered as soon as she saw Darcy. Darcy laughed and grabbed Jean’s arm to drag her out of the apartment.

“So do you, just like always.” Jean went bright red and she looked down, locking the door behind them. A gasp stuck in her throat as she turned around and found Darcy in her personal space, mere centimetres between their skin. It sent a rush to Jean’s head like the first glass of wine or the heady feeling of finishing a workout. Her eyes flittered over her face, darting to Darcy’s plump painted lips. Her tongue swiped across her own lips unconsciously.

“Shall we?” Darcy offered her arm which Jean gladly took and they made their way to the restaurant.

Natural conversation flowed between the two throughout their meal. At no point in the evening was there a time when they weren’t connected. Hands on arms. Fingers interlocked. The secretive brush of feet under the table. As time went on more and more of them touched, fusing them together and setting fire to Jean’s nerve endings.

They walked back to their apartment, arm in arm, their legs brushed with each step they took. Jean could feel her heart beating underneath her skin, the thump-thump echoing in her ears every single time she looked at Darcy. _How could I even think about not being near her._

They were just on the steps up to their apartment when Jean caught the hungry look in Darcy’s eyes.

“What are you thinking about?” She skipped the last few steps to their apartment and opened the door for Darcy.

She smiled and slipped out of her shoes, letting out a groan and she flopped down onto the couch. “Oh nothing, just that maybe I’ll finally be able to have a lie in tomorrow morning.” She joked but wouldn’t look Jean in the eyes. Jean pushed the door to and locked it. She pulled her own shoes off and released her hair from the top knot she had it in, her copper locks fell around her face.

“What are you really thinking? I know that look in your eye doesn’t have anything to do with you wanting to sleep.” Jean tucked her hair behind her ear and sat on the couch, facing Darcy with all of her body, focusing completely on the ethereal woman sat in front of her. She could scarcely believe that someone so beautiful was real and sat completely comfortable in their eclectic mess of an apartment. The image was jarring but at the same time she had never seen someone looks so at home.

Darcy pulled her legs up underneath her, moving so that she was invading Jean’s personal space once again. Her eyes fell on Jean’s face with a laser focus she had become accustomed to over the years. It was the kind of focus where nothing slipped past her, no minute facial expression or twitch, where she could make out each individual line of her face. Usually she would turn her face, the thought of Darcy being able to see clearly just how Jean felt about her scared her. The thought of not being near Darcy scared her so much more so she kept her face turned towards her.

“Tell me what you’re thinking first.” There was a vulnerability in her voice that Jean had never heard before. She lent forward and clasped her hands together to stop them from shaking. _She could hate me forever. I could lose her._ She swallowed, trying to moisten her desert dry mouth. _I’ve got to try._ Jean prided herself on never being a coward, she wasn’t going to start now.

She jumped at the cool touch of Darcy’s fingers pulling her hands apart. Her fingers slid into the space between her own. Jean released a small puff of air and looked her in the eye. “The thought of not being near you all the time hurts. And it scares the shit out of me. I’ve never felt like this about anyone in my entire life. Part of me wants to run away in fear.” Darcy’s face fell and she pulled back. Jean grabbed her arms and halted her movements. “A small part. The rest of me want’s to hold on to you and never stop.” Jean swallowed and tucked her head down. “If you-if you don’t feel the same I understand, hell I’d understand if you never wanted to speak to me again-”

“Stop.” Darcy stroked Jean’s cheek and pulled her head back up so she could look her in the eye. “Let me show you.”

_Show me what?_

Darcy leaned in till there was barely any space between the two of them. She could smell the perfume Darcy liked to dab behind her ears and see the minuscule cracks in her lipstick. She placed one of Jean’s hands on her chest, the other went to her temple. Jean’s hand moved with each breath that shook through Darcy’s chest but underneath all of that she could feel the hummingbird heartbeat. She pushed through the barrier of space between them and Jean’s eyes shut of their own accord. Their foreheads touched.

“You can look.” Jean could feel the words on her mouth as Darcy spoke.

“Look where?” She questioned, confusion bleeding into her voice. She felt the huff of a laugh.

“At my thoughts.” Jean sucked in a breath. She had only ever seen into Darcy’s thoughts one time in the years they had been friends. It seemed so much more intimate looking at Darcy’s thoughts than looking at the thoughts of everyone else she had before.

“Are you sure?” She closed her eyes.

“Yes.”

She was flooded with warmth. The smell of lavender and amber filled her nose. Her skin was singing where she was touching Darcy-wait no-where Darcy was being touched by her-there she was seventeen years old in the library-her hair glowed- she was surrounded by orange hued light. Her heartbeat sped up as it echoed round her brain. Her stomach wrenched watching herself have a nightmare- _is that how she felt?_

_**“Yes it was.”**_ Darcy’s voice curled around her consciousness.

Daisies, the stars and the beautiful blue sky of Louisiana. Flashes of herself flickered in her head. A molasses like feeling filled her blood as she felt what Darcy felt and saw what Darcy saw.

_**“Home.”** So that’s what that feeling is? _

The last thing she saw was her own shoulders. Darcy tucking herself into her own shoulders and fighting herself and the feeling simmering in her system. _**“I lost that fight Jean.”**_

Jean gasped and snapped her eyes open to look at Darcy. Her hands dropping into their laps. Her eyes searched Darcy’s face for any hint of deception. It would have been a cruel, cruel joke that might just break her heart completely. _I-I don’t think she’s lying_. Darcy stared back at her and she bit her lip, a worried look contorted her face. _You never even dreamed that this was an option._

“Jean. Say something.” Darcy stared at her. “Please.”

Jean held Darcy’s hands in her own and stroked her knuckles. “Since the day we first met and you shoved me out of your head, there hasn’t been a single day where the thought of you hasn’t been running through my mind.” Darcy’s breath collapsed out of her chest and she lent into Jean, their foreheads touching once again.

“I think I’ve been in love with you ever since that day.” Darcy smiled and Jean stroked her face at the words. In the silence following those words a tension built between them. Something tight and energetic that had been cooped up inside each of them for years now was stretching into a tight wire pulling them closer and closer together until there was only breath between them.

“So what are you waiting for?” Jean could taste her heartbeat. At her words it was as if something snipped the tight line between them.

Darcy surged forward until all of her body was pressed up against Jean against the back of the couch. Jean’s hands slid around her waist and pulled her even tighter in. Darcy’s hands slid down her cheeks, one cradled the back of her head and with the other she stroked her thumb over Jean’s lip.

“Kiss me.” The words slipped out of her lips and Darcy ducked her head to hers.

Darcy’s lips were rougher than she imagined as they slid over her own. She could taste the remnants of coffee and lipstick on her lips and her mind went blank as she focused completely on the fact that Darcy was kissing her. It started out soft and chaste. Darcy slipped her leg over Jean’s until she was straddling her and Jean gasped, turning it into an urgent open mouthed kiss. Jean moaned and the primal part of Jean she had been denying took control. Her hands slid from Darcy’s waist and she gripped the hair at the back of Darcy’s head, she let out a whimper and bit lightly at Jean’s bottom lip, swiping her tongue over the sensitive skin afterward to soothe it.

Their lips popped as they broke apart and Darcy grinned. She slipped her legs off of her and stood up, pulling Jean along with her. Jean pulled her back to her and slammed her lips back onto Darcy’s, eliminating the distance between them. They stumbled through the living room and into Darcy’s bedroom.

Their clothes made a pile on the floor as they fell in to bed with each other.

 

Jean woke up the next morning calmer than she had ever felt in her life. Ringlets of dark hair spread all over her chest where Darcy was snuggled into her, little snores escaped her mouth and her face was completely relaxed in deep sleep, the sun highlighted the natural rosiness of her cheeks she looked beautiful and in that moment Jean realised she never wanted to wake up to a different sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand they finally kissed!
> 
> So I've been having a few technical difficulties over the past few days but finally I've got a laptop and my files so I can carry on! Hopefully I will have gotten all of the first part posted by the time I go on holiday on Monday. Please let me know what you think of it, the more comments I get the more motivation I have to write :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are thoughts.

Graduation came and went in a haze of early relationship bliss. They had packed their apartment up and went back to Xavier’s in their graduation gowns, the doors had been thrown open and a surprise/bon voyage party had welcomed them. Streamers and balloons covered the cafeteria and Darcy couldn’t refrain from giggling at the childish sight. Jean had suggested a few days into their relationship that they get away from home for a while, Darcy had jumped on the idea – and on Jean – and they had put in the plans for a trip around Europe, starting with Paris of course.

Family had been one thing Darcy was worried she’d lost all those years back, but at the sight of all of her friends and teachers (even Lorna who had discovered a few years back that she was pretty handy with metal) she knew that she would always have a family at Xavier’s. It had been a long while since she had seen the mansion so full and vibrant and beating with people, her skin tingled and fizzed at everything going on around them.

It was electric.

Jean smiled down at her at the end of the night as people were slowly schlepping out of the cafeteria and up to their rooms. “We better get some sleep, gotta leave early in the morning.” Darcy nodded and lent her head against Jean’s shoulder when she slung her arm around Darcy’s shoulder. They had decided to travel by commercial plane as Jean had never done it before and Darcy was desperate to see the look of awe on Jean’s face that she had had on her own first trip on a plane.

They collapsed on Jean’s bed in a pile of limbs and didn’t wake up till their alarm screamed at them to wake the fuck up so they didn’t miss their flight. In less than twenty four hours they were setting foot in the dusky streets of Paris. Darcy basked in the vibrant feeling of the city, missing the way Jean was taking equal time looking at the sights and down at her face.

Their travels took them all across Europe to places lauded by tourists and places that felt like they had been the only outsider’s to ever discover it. Each day they grew closer to each other which Jean didn’t think was possible after the years they spent living together, constantly in each other’s personal space with no recognition of boundaries.

But still, they did; Darcy held the mental map of each freckle that marked Jean’s body and Jean knew exactly which scents drove Darcy crazy when they mixed with her own body chemistry. It was as if their bodies had fallen into a sense of synchronisation that allowed them to know how the other felt without so much as a word being spoken between them.

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” Darcy whispered to Jean as they strolled through the streets of Venice. Her copper hair fluttered through the wind and she stared out at the Rialto bridge, her hand tangled with Jean’s fingers as she pulled them to a stop out of the way of the foot traffic. Her eyes darted over the tourists and she leaned further into Jean when she saw that no one so much as glanced at them.

“Nothing really, I just never dreamed that I’d ever be able to do something, just walk around such a beautiful place without the worry that someone was going to find me and-and,” She sighed and blinked her wet eyes “It’s just nice to be able to do something so normal.”

“I know the feeling.” Darcy smiled and took in a deep breath, the light scent of saltwater melding with the riotous cuisine being served all around them, it was astounding. “It’s been a long day, why don’t we head to the apartment and just have a night in, we’ve got plenty of time to explore tomorrow.”

Jean smiled and dropped Darcy’s hand as they made their way through the crowds. She picked out the underlying message in what she said. The one and only down point to their constant exploring was the space they had to force between them, they were grateful that no one saw them as mutants, and the space was a small price to pay for their anonymity. Even when each minute they spent not touching set a fever between the two of them that was only sated when they were safely shut away from prying eyes.

“Sounds perfect.”

They stopped briefly to pick up some supplies for the kitchen and made their way to the cosy apartment they had found to stay in. It was half the size of their apartment at home but with them sharing a room the space wasn’t going to be a problem. There was a small wrought iron balcony hanging off of the two room apartment, and Darcy imagined Jean sat at the table drinking coffee in her nightclothes at sunrise. It was times like this when Darcy wished she had an iota of artistic talent.

With the door locked behind them Darcy dropped their things in the kitchen, packing the things away. She felt Jean move behind her, she swiped Darcy’s hair off of her neck and brushed her lips against the nape of her neck. It sent sparks of fire down straight to her stomach. She laughed “Did you want me to make dinner or not?”

Jean hummed and Darcy squirmed as the sensation vibrated her spine. “Dinner can wait, I can think of something better to do with our time.” She stroked up and down Darcy’s ribs and she giggled at the sensation, she span in Jean’s arms kissed the end of her nose.

“Well I suppose it can wait.” She slipped her hand into Jean’s hair and touched her lips against Jean’s. Darcy’s body relaxed as she finally closed all space between Jean and molded them together. Their lips moved softly at first, content to just be connected to the other. Darcy had found that with just a few touches Jean could make her go from frenzied neuroses to calm in a matter of seconds. Darcy sighed, Jean deepened the kiss when she opened her mouth.

The kiss melded from soft and calming to deep and needing. They broke apart as Jean cleared the counter and lifted Darcy onto it, leaving them face to face. Darcy trailed her hands up and down the bare skin of Jean’s arms, sending her sensations into overdrive. When she was settled on the counter Jean slammed their lips back together, their teeth clacking and Darcy’s laugh was cut off when Jean scratched her nails along Darcy’s scalp. Darcy whimpered and wrapped her legs around Jean’s waist to pull her in close.

It was in the moments like this where Darcy was grateful for her powers, not only could she feel Jean’s skin under her palms she could feel the way Jean’s blood thrummed through her veins. Each sensation became quickly overwhelmed by Jean and she felt like she was drowning and floating at the same time, like she was in a pool of honey that couldn’t decide whether it wanted to hold her body up or pull her in.

The cool touch of Jean’s hands on her back startled a gasp out of her chest and she pulled back from Jean’s lips. She dropped her legs from around Jean and slipped off of the counter. “Shall we go explore the bedroom, make sure it’s good enough.” Darcy laughed and pulled Jean towards the bedroom.

“You read my mind.” Jean pushed through the door and pulled Darcy onto the bed.

“That’s your job.”

* * *

The early morning light in Venice filtered through the glass doors that lead to the balcony. It glinted off of Darcy’s dark locks, picking out the lighter pieces as they fluttered over Jean’s chest. She stroked the back of Darcy’s head, content to just watch her love sleeping soundly.

She couldn’t help but think about the first time they had ever shared a bed, all those years ago after she’d had a nightmare. She woke up feeling so at peace she thought that she had been given a sedative. A smile pulled at her lips at the memory, Darcy had the magical power of always managing to make Jean feel calm and at peace.

She sighed and carded her fingers through the mess of curls on Darcy’s head. Jean loved the mornings where she woke up before Darcy and she could just look at her, with her face lacking any of the barriers she placed to protect herself from other people, she looked younger without them, more innocent and less jaded by the world that scarred her. Just thinking about the people that had hurt Darcy set Jean’s blood fizzing through her body, her muscles itching to get retribution.

As if sensing the unease rushing through Jean’s body, Darcy’s face scrunched up and she cracked her eyes open. Jean smiled down at her as Darcy craned her neck back to look at her. “Good morning sleepy head.”

Darcy groaned and shut her eyes at the bright light. “Morning,” Darcy opened her eyes again and smiled at her, she shuffled up closer to Jean and pressed a kiss to her lips before nestling into her neck.

“I love you,” Jean whispered, her voice wavered, it wasn’t the first time she had told Darcy, but every time she did it felt just as new and daunting. She felt Darcy smile against her neck, she pressed a kiss to Jean’s collarbone before pressing up on her arms to lean over Jean.

“I love you too.”

Jean sank down into the pillows behind her as Darcy slotted her lips over hers. Darcy’s hair made a curtain around them as she deepened the kiss. Jean loved these pockets of time where it seemed as if the rest of the world was still asleep and it was just the two of them together, their bodies pressed together with nothing hidden between them.

Darcy pressed soft barely there kisses all over Jean’s face before she tucked herself back under Jean’s arm, a yawn cracking her jaw. Jean kissed Darcy’s forehead before slipping out of her grasp and out of bed. She laughed at Darcy’s whimper at the loss of a pillow. “Where are you going?” She whined, pulling the sheet up to her chin where it had fallen to her waist.

Jean pulled on her pants and Darcy’s linen shirt from the pile of clothes on the floor. “I’m going to get us breakfast in bed if that’s alright with you.”

“It’s not, come back to bed,” She whined and sat up, she slid to the edge of the bed, the sheet pooled around her waist, and wrapped her arms around Jean’s waist.

“I won’t be long and I’ll go find those pastries you were looking at yesterday.” She pressed a kiss to Darcy’s forehead when she tucked her head against her stomach.

“Fine, I suppose I’ll let you go. Just remember to get some of those chocolate ones.” Darcy laughed but didn’t loosen he grip.

“And just how were you going to keep me here?” Jean raised her eyebrow in question, she tucked the hair back from Darcy’s face.

Darcy grinned and Jean felt one of her arms slip from around her waist. “You know me, I can be very persuasive.” Darcy slipped her free hand under Jean’s shirt and she gasped when she felt Darcy press a slow closed mouthed kiss just below her belly button.

“A little too persuasive,” Jean detached herself from Darcy “The sooner I go, the sooner I come back with breakfast.” She reasoned, Darcy pouted and Jean pecked her lips before grabbing her purse.

“Hurry back.” Darcy shouted before slumping down into the pillows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we're almost at the end of part one? How do you guys feel about it, I'd love to know you're favourite part of the story so far, all that's left is the epilogue.


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end.
> 
> Italics are thoughts.

Jean smiled at the thought of Darcy still slumped in bed. The pastries were still warm in the bag in her hands and she hurried back to their apartment so they would still be warm for Darcy. Early morning Venice was beautiful and part of Jean wished that she had dragged Darcy out with her to experience it.

She was just turning the corner to their apartment when she felt a stab of unease hit her in the gut. The pastries fell to the floor.

“Darcy.”

Jean launched herself towards their apartment. Her powers unfurled around her and waves of thoughts flooded her mind and she filtered them out to try and find Darcy’s. She slammed up the stairs to the apartment and threw the door open.

Chaos.

The apartment was in utter chaos, all of their belongings were thrown around and broken as if someone had been searching for something in particular. The kitchen table was nothing more than a pile of fire wood where it was broken on the floor. “Darcy!” Jean shouted rushing into the bedroom.

It was empty.

Jean fell to the floor as a sob shot out of her throat. _She’s gone_. Her limbs shook and Jean slumped to the floor. The loss punched right through her chest and dug its claws into her heart, sending fire and ice throughout her mind.

 _She’s gone_.

Her mind was on fire.

_I’m going to kill them._

There was a rumbling noise building in the apartment and Jean slammed her hands over ears as a scream left her throat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me?
> 
> So this is the end of part one, please let me know what you thought of it. The first chapter of the second part will be up by Sunday the 27th of August if things go to plan :)

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, thank you, thank you, thank you for reading this!!!
> 
> So it's only taken me how long to get back into writing again? It's the summer between me finishing my A levels and starting University so i decided to spend it working on one of the many WIP's I had, my original plan was for this to get no bigger than 20,000 words but it is already over the 30,000 word mark and i have six chapter's left. So this will be split into two parts, The Spark and The Fire (i'm not totally convinced of the names yet but that's what i'm going to go with). I would absolutely adore if you could leave me a comment, it's been hard getting back into writing fanfiction after such a long time so any comments would be greatly appreciated! Also you guys should totally checkout Bloomsoftly and Wino's stories as they greatly inspired me to get back into writing, especially if you love Femslash i reccomend Cornflowers by Wino it's beautiful! Anyway back to the point, this thing has been stuck in my head for over a year now so please tell me what you think of it.  
> Updates will be reasonably regular and I promise that you won't be waiting a year for me to finish it as i actually have a very detailed plan this time.


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